Technical Information

AIS Launches Comfortwall brand into the WA Cavity Wall Market

18 August 2017

Australasian Insulation Supplies is proud to announce our new look Comfortwall brand into the Western Australian cavity wall insulation market. With our new dedicated website and Facebook page we welcome more WA home owners to experience how ComfortWall is able to dramatically improve the performance of almost all new and existing uninsulated walls.

ComfortWall has been installed into 3000+ Perth dwellings over the last 17 years.

Online CPD Platform for Australian Architects.

21 July 2017

To learn more about how Rockwool and Rockfon can compliment design and specification with regards to Acoustic, Fire, Thermal and Moisture performance on your next project contact In2AP to book your CPD.

IN2AP pride themselves on being product solutions specialists. They are educated by global partners with regard to the latest up to date technologies and trends and we are committed to sharing this information with Australian architects to better inform product decisions through continuous learning developments.

What is ROCKWOOL?

23 May 2017

Rockwool, known as stonewool in Europe, is a particularly useful product for modern man. Rockwool exists as product, manufactured and sold globally, because it is a low cost, non-combustible, durable and health safe insulation material.

Rockwool is made from rock, basalt, anorthosite and carbonates, in a man made process somewhat similar to the way lava is made naturally in volcanos. The rocks are melted in a cupola (furnace,) then spun into fibres and processed in different ways to produce a range of products ideally suited for particular uses:

· Rigid slabs

· Flexible rolls

· Flexible wired mattress

· Pipe insulation

· ‘Construction’ rockwool for sandwich panel cores

· ‘Loose Fill’ for cryogenic insulation

· Slabs suitable for growing plants in!

Health Safe: Rockwool was classified as ‘Class 3’ by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research into Cancer (IARC) in October 2001. This means the product is not able to be considered as carcinogenic.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC): ROCKWOOL obtains a ‘pass’ when tested for VOC and does not represent a risk to the health or wellbeing of occupiers of buildings.

Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP): ROCKWOOL does not use ODP chemicals in the manufacturing process and ODP chemicals cannot be formed during the manufacturing process.

No Asbestos: No ROCKWOOL products contain any asbestos.

Non-combustibility: ROCKWOOL stonewool products are non-combustible. The rockwool (stonewool) products achieve this result when tested to all the international standards, eg; AS 1530.1, BS 476 pt4, ASTM E 136, IMO A799, DIN 4102.

Sustainable: The raw materials that rockwool is manufactured from, basalt, anorthosite and carbonates, are regarded as inexhaustible reserves. These reserves are renewable in a geological sense.

Rockwool in its lifetime (more than 50 years) can save more than 100 times the energy used for its production.

Rockwool stonewool has on average a recycled content of its raw materials of 28%.

Rockwool insulation provides thermal insulation, passive fire resistance, acoustic insulation and handles moisture by either repelling liquid water or letting water vapour easily pass through it. And it is sustainable and health safe. Rockwool insulation, is indeed, a very useful product!

Three-Myths-and-Truths-on Optimized-Acoustics

23 May 2017

Three Myths and Truths on Optimized Acoustics

There is a misconception that acoustic ceiling panels are as effective as walls at blocking sound and that where sound blocking is required, sound absorption is less important.

This is not true. Sound absorption is a critical component of every room that will be occupied by people and, while modular acoustic ceilings are not effective at blocking sound—they are, in fact, very good at absorbing it.

Truth: Good acoustic design begins with the optimal sound absorption rating for the ceiling. This should never be compromised in hopes of also blocking noise with the ceiling.

Effective noise control should start with the optimal sound absorption ratings for the ceiling panels. They serve to absorb the noise in large open areas, preventing it from bouncing off surfaces, and spreading through spaces and down corridors causing disruptions. In fact, the maximum permissible reverberation times are decreasing in building standards and guidelines, meaning high-performing ceilings with a Noise Reduction Coefficient of NRC 0.90+ are not only recommended but in many spaces, are required.

Where low-performing, ceilings are installed, additional absorption on the walls and poor may be required, adding avoidable costs.

Even in enclosed spaces, such as meeting rooms and classrooms, there is need for high absorption from ceiling panels.

For example, a current trend is to remove carpeting and replace opaque walls and acoustic panels with sound-reactive glass. To maintain the same reverberation time, the NRC of the ceiling must increase from 0.60 to 0.90 when these other absorbing surfaces are removed.

To achieve successful acoustic experiences, tap into the inherent strengths of ceiling panels by focusing on their high absorption ratings. Unfortunately, with the range of ceiling panel solutions available, there are still products on the market that degrade this absorptive strength by trying to also provide adequate noise blocking indicated as Ceiling Attenuation Class.

This misinformation about the use of dual-purpose or multi-functional ceiling panels is causing compromises in buildings’ acoustics that fall short of both the absorption and blocking requirements set out in the standards and guidelines.

Myth 2: Ceilings are effective at blocking noise between rooms.

Truth: For blocking noise between rooms you need mass, and suspended acoustic ceilings are not the right tool for the job.

To effectively block sound, a material or assembly must have enough mass, be nonporous and be free of penetrations, which allow sound to freely pass through it.

Acoustic ceiling panels are typically lightweight, 1 psf or less.

Their core materials are fibrous and porous, and their surface finishes are engineered to allow sound to pass efficiently through them.

All of these attributes make them great at sound absorption and terrible at sound blocking. Conversely, slabs and walls are built of massive gypsum board and masonry.

They are painted to seal the pores so that, in part, they can be cleaned easily.

These attributes make them poor sound absorbers and great at blocking noise.

One must understand the differences in these core characteristics of ceilings and walls so they can serve their correct roles in buildings. When acoustic ceiling panels are placed into a modular suspension system, along with other building system components, such as lights, return air grilles, supply diffusers, loudspeakers, etc., substantial flanking paths—or noise leaks—are created.

These flanking paths degrade the ceiling system performance even more relative to the already low performance of ceiling panels. In fact, these leaks can cut your perceived sound blocking performance in half, making speech from adjoining spaces intelligible—meaning privacy is lost—and making general noise quite annoying. This is why the acoustics standards, guidelines and building rating systems do not permit the use of modular acoustic ceilings to block noise transfer between rooms.

Truth: If the demising walls stop at the ceiling level, leaving an open plenum above the ceiling, the CAC rating of the ceiling system should be the same as the STC rating of the wall. Whether the noise comes through the wall or over the top of the wall through the ceilings, overall room performance is only as good as the weakest link.

The best-performing ceilings alone cannot match the lowest performance achieved by common walls. One would not specify a sound transmission class rating of STC 30-35 wall construction if privacy and noise control were desired. T

herefore, one should not expect a CAC 30-35 ceiling to provide them either. The ability of walls to block sound is commonly specified at levels 10 to 20 dB higher than what common, modular, acoustic ceilings of any type can achieve. Remember the "Good/Better/Best" categories below when selecting the optimal level of blocking between rooms. Blocking Categories

Gary Madaras, Ph.D., Assoc. AIA, serves as Rockfon’s North American acoustics specialist. He provides acoustical training for employees, customers and other industry leaders. He holds a Ph.D. in architectural acoustics from the University of Florida, a master’s in architectural acoustics from Kent State University, and earned an MBA from Northern Illinois

Rockfon Tiles Excels In Aquatic Centre

26 March 2012

Rockfon ceiling panels have successfully been utilised in the South Australian State Aquatic Centre. The centre will be the venue for international swimming events and will be the principal competition and training venue for swimming, diving and water polo in South Australia.